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Governor Dean Unveils Economic Plan
Restoring the American Dream
WASHINGTON—Democratic presidential candidate Governor Dean unveiled his economic program today, condemning the "Enron Economics" of the Bush administration, and promising that, as president, he would "reclaim the American dream" for working families.
Speaking to students and faculty at Georgetown University, Governor Dean spoke out against the growing influence of corporate and special interests in the political process.
"When the balance of power in Washington shifts and private interests trump the common good American capitalism has been betrayed. Over the last 30 years, we have allowed multinational corporations and other special interests to use our nation's government to undermine our nation's promise. They have bought access to power with their campaign contributions and their lobbyists. And they’ve used that access to ensure that the laws--and most importantly the tax code--benefit them," Governor Dean said.
"The Bush presidency is the realization of our founding fathers' fear – that one day economic power would seize political power. Enron epitomizes this fear, corporate power run amok. The executives at Enron misled the public and their employees to line their pockets with millions of dollars while employees lost their jobs, lost their health insurance and lost their pensions," Dean said. "President Bush has brought the Enron model from Texas to Washington. He's implemented an economic plan for the country with reckless tax cuts based on false economic assumptions that benefit the wealthiest in our society at the expense of ordinary working Americans. The President's economics are Enron economics."
The Dean economic program consists of:
1. JOB CREATION: A short-term stimulus to create 1 million new jobs through a $100 billion Fund to Restore America that will help states and local governments create jobs in health, education, and homeland security, as well as build or restore schools, roads and other infrastructure.
2. FISCAL DISCIPLINE: Repeal all the president's tax cuts, pay for new programs without increasing the deficit, and a pledge to balance the budget.
3. HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESS: A new Small Business Capital Corporation to expand the secondary market for small business loans and make capital for these job creators available more easily and at a lower cost.
4. TAX FAIRNESS: An aggressive effort to clean up the tax code, end corporate welfare, close tax loopholes, enhance enforcement against tax cheats and to shift the burden of taxation back toward corporations giving fairer treatment to individual taxpayers.
5. TAX SIMPLIFICATION: A commitment to tax simplification so that at least half of American taxpayers will no longer have to fill out forms.
6. A BETTER DEAL FOR WORKING FAMILIES: Addressing working families' anxieties about making ends meet with a higher minimum wage, universal health care, greater assistance with early education and care and college for their kids and a secure retirement.
Governor Dean explained that recovering from the Bush administration's reckless policies—that have cost 3.1 million jobs and turned a $3.1 trillion surplus into a $3.8 trillion deficit—will be difficult.
"The effect of this president's policies is to saddle a family of four with $52,000 in national debt over the next six years alone. And let’s be clear what American middle class families actually received. In 2003, 60 percent of Americans will get an average of $307; the top one percent of all households received an average of over $26,000," Governor Dean said.
"What George Bush is basically doing is borrowing $1000 in your name and handing you $250 of it. That is why I say, unlike some of my rivals, we need to repeal all of the president's tax cuts. These tax cuts weren't written for the majority of America. These tax cuts weren't written to return economic power back to the people. These tax cuts, like Enron's finances, are a scheme to make the rich richer, to starve Social Security and Medicare and to put our nation's financial strength at risk by creating the largest debt in history."
"We'll have to be honest with the American people that it's going to take years and some sacrifice to dig out," Dean said. "I pledge to the American people that a Dean administration in Washington will do what the Dean administration did in Vermont: we will balance the budget."
www.deanforamerica.com
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